Mobile carriers associate a mobile device with a subscriber through a subscriber identity module (SIM) card. A SIM card is a small memory module that contains, among other pieces of information, a unique serial number (ICCID) identifying that SIM card and an international mobile subscriber identity (ISMI) identifying the subscriber. A mobile device vendor installs a SIM card into a mobile device, that vendor is associating that SIM card with the owner of the mobile device when the owner subscribes to a carrier account. Typically, when the mobile device is a smartphone, the carrier account includes a phone number by which calls and SMS messages will be routed to that mobile device.
Occasionally, a subscriber will request that a SIM card installed in his mobile device be reissued. For example, suppose that the subscriber lost his phone and needs a replacement from the mobile device vendor. The mobile phone vendor then associates a new SIM card with another ICCID with the ISMI associated with the subscriber. In a conventional SIM reissuing process, the vendor identifies the subscriber by requiring that the subscriber present information identifying him as that subscriber such as picture identification, credit card number associated with the account, social security number, and the like.